Ex Nothing
translated from the Spanish by Rosa Alcalá
Leave the womb
Leave the fear
Leave the nest
Hit the road
Hightail it
Head the hell out
Live hidden
Without a sound
Not seen
Nor heard
Be not
From this earth
But from nothing.
Ex nada
Salir del vientre
Salir del miedo
Salir del nido
Arrancar
Apretar cueva
A toda raja
Vivir escondida
Sin ser oída
Ni vista
Ni oída
No ser
De la tierra
Si no de la nada.
Copyright © 2026 by Cecilia Vicuña, translated by Rosa Alcalá. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on July 23, 2026, by the Academy of American Poets.
“The poem relates to the way we are erased by authoritarian rule. Ex, as in exit, is ‘out of or from,’ in Latin and Greek, but whether you are pushed out or get out of your own accord, it evokes a hidden or explicit pain erased by shame, or shaming, which is not the same.”
—Cecilia Vicuña
Cecilia Vicuña
